Change
by TheGreekGoddessAphrodite
Summary: Things change. Of course, I had realized this before. In four years, a lot can happen to make things different. Only, I didn't expect things to change so much. I didn't expect him to change so much. And most of all, I didn't expect me to change so much.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Thalia POV**

"_Thalia, I don't see why not!" Annabeth said, trying to convince me to come back to Camp._

_ "I'm a Huntress now, Annabeth."_

_ "Yes. And why did you become a Huntress in the first place? So you wouldn't be the child of the prophecy. The war is over now; there isn't any prophecy concerning you or Percy!"_

_ "I can't just ditch them! Not now! I'm their lieutenant. And they're my family now. At least, they're as close to family as I can get," I told her in an attempt to reason with the stubborn girl._

_ "That's not true! We're your family! Percy, Grover, Nico, Juniper, and I!"_

_ "Annabeth-"_

_ "Thalia!" Phoebe called, "we're leaving now! Hurry up!"_

_ "I…I gotta go. I'll see you later." I turned away and jogged to where the Huntresses remaining were clustered. I never looked back. I didn't want the look on Annabeth's face to change my mind._

* * *

><p>"Huntresses! Pack up your things! You will be at Camp for the next two weeks!" Artemis shouted, her voice echoing over our campsite.<p>

Camp? For the next two weeks?

"No whining!" she said before anyone had a chance to.

I hadn't seen anyone in four years. _Four years_. They all probably looked completely different now. And Annabeth and Percy…they would be two years older than me. And Grover and Juniper…well, I really have no idea what they'll look like. How _do_ satyrs and nymphs age?

"When are we leaving, my lady?" I asked her.

"As soon as my brother gets here," she told me with a hint of disgust in her voice. "That should be in fifteen minutes."

I nodded, but in my head I was groaning. Another ride in Apollo's sun chariot? Kill me now. I hated heights as it is, but Apollo's driving made it that much worse. Let alone when he made me drive.

As I headed out of the moon goddess' tent I heard her mutter, "Zeus never gives us any warnings about these meetings."

As I packed up my clothes, all I could think about was the last time I had seen Annabeth. I hope she won't be mad at me…I don't really think we were on the best of terms when we parted.

All I really remember about it was how she was trying to convince me to stay at Camp; there was no need to be a Huntress anymore and that she, Percy, Grover, Juniper, and some other person were my family.

I couldn't help but think that maybe there was no reason to be a Huntress now. Maybe I-

No. I quickly shook that thought out of my head. The Huntresses have always been kind to you, Thalia. They've always been the family you never had. Everything you need is right here. You can't just leave them after everything they've done for you.

"Almost ready, Thalia?" Amelia asked me. I shared a tent with the tall, auburn haired girl. She was a mortal, but if you had to choose a godly parent for her, it would be Hermes. Her hazel eyes were always glinting mischievously.

"Yeah," I answered as I tightly re-braided my black hair. I always wore my hair like this – it was easy to do and it kept my hair out of the way.

I exited my tent with Amelia to see all of the other Hunters had gathered by Artemis with their bags.

"Try not to kill anyone at Camp, okay girls?"

"What about seriously injuring?" Kelly asked, and Artemis smiled. Kelly was a blonde haired girl who had been here even before I joined.

"That's fine," Artemis said, her silver eyes gleaming.

Then, the sun chariot arrived.

We all groaned. Anything concerning the egotistical sun god was never a pleasant experience for the Hunt.

"Hey ladies," Apollo started to say, but was soon cut off by his sister.

"No flirting, no talking, no eye contact, no physical contact, no winking, no kissing, no hugging, and absolutely no dawdling whatsoever. Get my Huntresses straight to Camp."

"Sis, you tell me this every time. I think I should be able to remember it by now." Artemis looked at me, nodding slightly.

"Hi Apollo," I greeted with a smile. It was painful, believe me.

"Hi, Thalia," he replied with a smile of his own. I mentally gagged.

"See! You just talked, flirted, and made eye contact with a Huntress!" Artemis cried. "You have no self-control. At all. Just get out of my sight before I strangle you."

"But you can't-"

"I'll find a way," she assured him.

Apollo nodded and started to turn his head our way and open his mouth when he quickly closed it again and snapped his head back, remembering his sister's rules. He headed towards his sun chariot, which was currently in the form of a bus. Before climbing into it, he turned to look at Artemis once more.

"You really think very highly of me, don't you?" he asked, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"No," she stated flatly, and turned towards us. "Win in Capture the Flag for me."

With that, she took on her immortal form and we all shielded our eyes. "Love you too, sister dearest," Apollo muttered. Once the light faded, Artemis was gone.

"Let's go girls!"

"You aren't supposed to talk to us," one of the Huntresses told Apollo coldly.

"Oh, never mind what I'm not supposed to do!"

* * *

><p>"Bye, ladies! Have a nice time at Camp!" Apollo called after us. Of course, we ignored him and trudged towards the Artemis Cabin to unpack our stuff.<p>

"Okay guys, schedule starts tomorrow," I announced when everyone was unpacked. "Do whatever you want today."

Being the Lieutenant of Artemis, I was in charge of making sure that everyone knew where to go, what do, etcetera.

Chaos erupted in the cabin as every member of the Hunt tried to make their way towards the door. "Try not to hurt anyone!" I shouted, trying to make myself heard over all of the noise.

Once everyone had successfully evacuated from the cabin, I decided it was finally time to go see Annabeth. Really, I was dreading it. I didn't know how she'd react to seeing me. And I guess it was kind of bittersweet for me to see her as an eighteen year old. I still remember when she was seven and we were all on the run. Her, me, and Luke…

No. I wasn't going to think about Luke.

I walked up to the Athena Cabin and was about to open the door when the door opened.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.

"How did you know I was coming?"

"Chiron told us you guys were coming. I assumed you would come to see me," the daughter of Athena explained.

I sighed. "You know me to well."

"Well, you haven't changed," she said, breaking the silence.

"And you have." We both laughed. Annabeth definitely had changed. She was definitely taller, and her hair, although still in the same old ponytail, looked a little bit longer. "I can't believe you're eighteen now."

"Gods…it feels weird…to be older than you, that is. I remember back when I was seven…you seemed so big to me then." She was avoiding mentioning Luke, too. I guess I wasn't the only one.

"Hey we should do something," she said suddenly.

"Like what?" I asked.

"I don't know…go to the beach?"

"And who is we?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Who do you think is we?"

"Okay, just making sure you didn't go and befriend barbies while I was gone."

"…Barbies?"

"Aphrodite kids," I explained.

"Well, not all of them are that bad…Silena…"

"Silena was the exception. Now are we going to the beach or what?"

Annabeth laughed, and told me to go get changed and that she would go round everybody up. I obeyed orders, and headed back to my cabin, happy that Annabeth and I were still good friends.

**A/N Hey guys! New and improved Chapter One. I will have chapters two, three, and four up as soon as possible! Thanks for reading, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Thalia POV**

There was a knock on the door.

"Coming," I called, making my way towards the door. I knew it was Annabeth before I opened it.

"Hey guys," I said, seeing not only Annabeth, but Percy and Grover too. For a second I wondered where Juniper was, until I remembered she couldn't wander very far from her tree.

Grover didn't look much different. His acne had mostly cleared up and his horns had grown a little larger, but that was it. He didn't look to have grown taller, and his hair was still brown and curly.

Percy, on the other hand, had changed significantly. His hair was still dark brown and to his eyebrows, but it looked to have gotten a few light brown highlights from the sun. He had also grown a few inches and was getting really tall; he was already close to towering over Annabeth.

"Thalia!" Percy and Grover said in unison.

"Yes, what do you need?" I asked them. And Percy rolled his eyes, and Grover smiled.

"Same old Thalia."

"Same old Thalia," Grover agreed. "You really haven't changed a bit."

"Is that what everybody is going to tell me when I see them again?"

"Well, I guess it's the first thing that comes to mind when you see someone again," Annabeth reasoned.

"Let's go to the beach," Percy suggested, trying to avoid another lecture.

Once we were at the beach, I saw a few people I hadn't seen in awhile, but it was mostly just Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and me. I preferred it that way. It was nice having just the four of us catching up.

"So what've you been up to lately, Thalia?" Annabeth asked me, turning over on her towel to face me.

"Not much; hunting monsters, getting new members, the usual. How about you?"

"Well, at Camp it's been really relaxing. Like a normal summer camp. During the year, however, it can get a little...crazy."

"How are you and Percy?" I smirked as she blushed.

"Fine…"

Then, a huge wave came crashing over me. It quickly soaked me to the bone. Oh no he didn't.

"Percy!" I shouted. I turned to see him laughing, but when he saw the expression on my face, he shut up and immediately started running.

Who knew? Kelp Head had some sense after all.

I ran after Percy, kicking up sand. I never realized before how hard it was to run on sand.

"Please don't kill me!" the son of Poseidon yelled as he realized how much closer I was getting. Then I had an idea… Why not have a little bit of fun with this?

I caught up with Percy within the next five minutes and tackled him. He landed on his stomach and I quickly twisted his hands behind his back.

I raised my hand high in the air, trying to scare Percy more then necessary. It worked.

"Thalia…I think you're over-reacting a bit…"

I laughed, trying to make it sound as insane as possible. "Me? Over-reacting?"

"Well…are you going to kill me?"

"Oh, Percy. Of course not! Just seriously injure!" I smiled at him like it was the best thing in the world.

Then my expression quickly turned serious. "Nobody messes with Thalia."

I shocked his arm, but it was only the kind you would get when somebody rubbed their feet across a carpet and touched you.

I got off of him and made my way back to where we were before I started to chase Percy.

"Really Thalia? Really?" I heard Percy call from behind me, and I laughed.

"You should've seen the look on your face! Did you seriously think I would hurt you?"

"Well, I don't know!"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh Percy," I muttered. "Forgot you were invincible again, huh?"

He face palmed.

* * *

><p>I went back to the Artemis Cabin just before dinner to find the rest of the Hunt already there.<p>

"Did you guys hurt anyone?" I asked them, and they all shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, maybe just one person…" Taylor said, pushing a strand of thin blonde hair behind her ear. Her blue eyes refused to meet mine.

"Or two…" Jennifer added, sitting beside Taylor.

Amelia looked me in the face. "Three people insulted Artemis, two of them have a broken arm and one has a broken wrist. Four insulted individual Huntresses, one has a broken nose, two have broken legs, and another has a black eye and a broken ankle. One insulted girls in general; he has a black eye and a broken arm. Two we just didn't like, but they only have bruises. So in total…ten people were hurt, but only eight people are in the infirmary." She made eight sound like a small number.

I groaned. "_Eight_?"

"Well, at least it isn't all ten, right?" some Huntress said, trying to be optimistic and make me less mad. I didn't bother to see who it was.

"Well, nothing we can do about it now, right? Let's just…go to dinner."

I have to say, dinner was interesting. Glares were exchanged between us and the Aphrodite Cabin, we glared at the Apollo Cabin, and any boys were totally ignored, if not shoved. There was almost a fight between one of the Huntresses and one of the Aphrodite kids, but Chiron made sure that didn't happen.

"Children!" Chiron shouted, trying to quiet us down. It was about another minute before it got completely silent.

"As you know, it is a tradition for us to have Capture the Flag be a little different when the Huntresses come." He announced. "I know most of you already know what happens, but many of those who have arrived here within the past four years do not. Instead of cabins versus other cabins like it normally is, this time we will have the Campers against the Hunt."

I think Chiron was going to continue, but it became too loud in the Mess Hall with all of the cheering to make that possible. He ended up just sitting back down. I saw Mr. D roll his eyes and mutter something, which was probably about how much of ungrateful brats we all were.

"I can't wait to put those Aphrodite spawns their place!" Amelia said excitedly from her place on my right. I smiled at her enthusiasm.

* * *

><p>"Alright guys, get your bows! We have Archery in five minutes!"<p>

We had just gotten back from breakfast, and everybody was taking forever to get ready to go to Archery. I, on the other hand, had already been ready for ten minutes.

"We heard you the last four times you said it," Kristen groaned.

"If I were to believe that to be true, we would already be _at _Archery."

We ended up leaving the cabin about two minutes later, and arriving at Archery two minutes late.

"Sorry we're late, Chiron," I apologized, hoping to get on with class as soon as possible. Archery would probably be my favorite activity here. I hadn't really been at Camp much before, so I didn't know for sure. Still, I didn't want to miss a second of it.

"That's fine," he said. "Everyone else has started shooting targets."

We all found a target to shoot at, and soon the minutes were flying by. I barely noticed when Chiron told everyone it was time to move on. It was only when Amelia tapped me that I was brought back to reality. I murmured thanks to her and listened to what Chiron was saying.

"Since this class is with the Apollo Cabin and the Huntresses, I've decided o have a little competition. I've gotten a thousand of these mini-monsters, and whomever shoots the most of them without missing one wins," he explained, holding up what looked to be a minotaur the size of a doll, except it was all grey.

I smiled. This should be fun.

I got behind Amelia in line. I counted how many targets people who had already gone had shot. So far, the highest was forty. This was going to be easy.

"It's not like there needs to be a competition, we already know who's going to win," some jerk a few people behind me said. "The Hunt doesn't stand a chance against us. I bet they'll only get to twenty."

I clenched my fist. Twenty, huh? I can get more than twice that.

I turned around at the guy who was talking and gave him a death glare. "I could beat you any day."

"Yeah right."

"You wanna see?" I stepped up, bow in hand, as it was my turn.

Chiron threw the first target into the air and I shot it with ease. He was going way too easy on my.

By target number fifteen, it had gotten a little bit harder, but it was still easy.

When I got to target twenty five, it had become a little challenging, but I didn't miss yet.

At number forty three, it got hard.

I managed to shoot down fifty two targets before I miss. That, of course, was the new high score.

I didn't even realize it was the jerk's turn until he was already at target forty nine.

"Please miss, please miss, please miss," I said under my breath.

Fifty…fifty one…fifty two…fifty three…

He beat me.

Even though he missed number fifty four, he still beat me.

"You Huntresses think you're so great? Well guess what? I, Tyler Jansler, just beat you all. I bet Artemis taught you everything she knew, right?" He snickered. "Shows how much she knows."

Okay, that was just going way too far. Not being able to resist it any longer, I shot him.

I don't even see what the big deal was; it only grazed his arm. All it was meant to do was scare him and shut him up.

I got Kitchen Duty anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Thalia POV**

"Welcome to Mythology class!" Annabeth announced as the Hunt and I walked into the room. For a split second I wondered why Annabeth was acting in charge, when it suddenly occurred to me she might teach this class. After all, she was probably one of the smartest kids in Camp. Not only that, but she was eighteen, too.

"You teach this class?" I asked her.

"Yep," she replied proudly, beaming. "Ever since I was fifteen."

We waited about five minutes, just sitting around and talking, waiting for everyone to show up.

"Where's the Aphrodite Cabin?" Ten of the sixty minutes we had for Mythology class had already gone by, and the Aphrodite Cabin still wasn't here. "They come in a little late sometimes, but never this late… Come to think of it, they weren't at breakfast either. I mean, they do that a lot and they're always fine, just sleeping in. But…this is different. I'm going to go see Chiron. Thalia, come with me?"

"Sure," I told the daughter of Athena, glad for the offer. I wanted to see what was up, too.

"Amelia, you're in charge," Annabeth called over her shoulder. I saw Amelia grin evilly as I walked out the door.

"I really hope we don't come back to complete chaos," I said, trying to keep up with Annabeth's quick pace.

"Yeah…" she said, but I could tell she wasn't thinking about what Amelia would do while we were gone, but about the whereabouts of the Aphrodite Cabin. I could practically see the gears turning in her head, thinking of hundreds of different places they could be.

Now Annabeth was running. I mean, gods. It was only Aphrodite's kids. We could live without them for a day. It had been much more peaceful.

Annabeth flung open the door to the Big House. "Chiron!" she yelled. "The Aphrodite Cabin is missing! Do we need a quest? Do we need to hold a meeting? What should we do?"

"I am aware of this," he told her calmly.

"Wait. What? You are?"

"Yes. I was notified earlier today that they had not gone to Arts and Crafts. We looked in their cabin and no one was there." Chiron noticed Mr. D glaring at us from across from him. Noticing he was crankier than usual, he told us he had it under control and to go back to our class.

We got back to see Jen and some daughter of Aphrodite fighting.

Annabeth gasped. "Okay guys, break it up!" she cried frantically, rushing over to them and trying to pull them apart.

"The – Hunt – is – not – stupid!" Jen yelled, throwing a punch at the blonde girl but totally missing, as Annabeth was holding her back.

"Thalia, help me!"

"Fine," I sighed. "But only if you get the Aphrodite girl."

We ended up breaking the fight up and having them sit on opposite sides of the room. Blondie and Jen were still glaring daggers at each other, though.

"Alright, let's start class!" Annabeth declared as a boy in a pink polo with a haircut like Justin Bieber's walked in. She told him to sit on the right side of the room with the rest of his siblings. The room was divided into two sides in an attempt to prevent more fighting from happening – the Huntress side and the Aphrodite side.

"The myth we're going to talk about today will be about Artemis and Orion." She paused, waiting to see if anyone had any objections. When all she got was silence, she continued speaking. "Well, in that myth, a mortal named Orion was hunting in the woods. While he was doing so, he came upon Artemis. They soon became good friends, and also hunting partners.

"Eventually, though, Apollo discovered this, and became jealous. He didn't want Artemis to fall for Orion. So, to end their friendship, Apollo came up with a plan. One day, while Orion was sleeping, Apollo sent Orion a dream of a giant scorpion chasing him that he couldn't kill. This terrified him, as he had never met a beast he couldn't kill before. Soon, he woke up, and realized it was only a dream.

"He decided to go and tell Artemis about his nightmare, but when he opened the door, there was the giant scorpion. Orion ran to the sea in an effort to try to get away from it.

"Meanwhile, Apollo told Artemis that Opos, a priestess of hers, had been raped and her attacker was swimming away in an attempt to avoid her wrath.

"She rushed to the shore without going to see Opos to comfort her or see if she was okay. Apollo pointed out to her the head of Orion in the distance, and she shot him without hesitating.

"She then went to Opos, but Opos told her she had never been attacked. Realizing what she had done, Artemis retrieved Orion's body and made him a constellation."

She stood there for a moment, looking nervous. Knowing Annabeth, she was probably worried if she explained it well enough. The crowd she had was not currently easy to please.

"So…comments?"

"Yeah," some snobby brunette said as snobbishly as she could possibly say it. "Why wasn't it about Aphrodite?"

Annabeth took a deep breath through her nose. "Well, Lily, I always tell you a myth about Aphrodite when you guys have class, so this time, since the Hunt is here, I figured we could do one about Artemis," she explained, trying to keep herself calm. I could already tell that this class would be…interesting.

"Plus, not everyone wants to listen to stories about the sluttiest goddess on Olympus."

Oh no…the look on the Aphrodite kid's faces was not one I liked. To them, this meant war.

"Our mom is _not_ slutty."

"Oh, please," Jen said, looking straight at the girl who she had fought with a few minutes earlier. "You're trying to tell me that the goddess who has slept with pretty much every single god on Olympus isn't slutty?"

"She. Isn't. Slutty!" Blondie screeched. She was about to lunge when Annabeth intervened.

"Aphrodite isn't slutty! Jen didn't mean it! Please don't fight anymore!"

"Yes, I-" Jen was about to tell Annabeth and the Aphrodite Cabin that she did mean it when I sent her a death glare. She didn't need to go pick a fight over such a stupid thing.

"What was that?"

The tomboy sighed. "Nothing," she muttered.

Annabeth went back to her seat. "Alright. Anybody else have anything to say?"

"Well," a perky brunette said, "this myth actually was kind of okay."

"Oh?" Annabeth inquired, her eyebrows raised. "Why is that?"

"Well, it is the closest Artemis ever got to falling in love. What I think happened was that Artemis actually fell for Orion and realized just how great men could be. She might've even eventually quit being a maiden goddess for him. But then, when Apollo tricked her into killing him, she was so devastated that she decided she would never be with another man because no one could replace Orion in her heart."

"Aww! How cute!" the non-Huntress girls swooned, while the boys smiled. The Hunt, on the other hand…didn't like that. Most stared at her wide-eyed, while others were gagging.

We were speechless for a few moments.

"You…you actually think…"

"Artemis?"

"Orion?"

"Love?"

"You have _got _to be joking." Amelia crossed her arms over her chest. "Artemis in love? Please. She would rather hold up the sky again. Artemis would never fall for a man. Especially a mortal."

"I mean, I knew you guys were a little not right in the head, but this? This is…insane."

"You guys just don't want to admit that your 'mistress' ever fell in love," Blondie taunted. I assumed this girl was their cabin leader, since she seemed to be the most active in insulting us and defending her mom.

"Are you mocking us?" Jen challenged, and she shrugged.

"Maybe I am."

"Okay that's it." Jen stood up.

"Jen, Melanie, sit." Melanie? That was Blondie's name? I liked Blondie better. "Can you please just be civil for ten more minutes?"

"If _Melanie_ shuts up for the rest of class, I think we should be fine."

"If I shut up? Are you kidding me? You're the one insulting our mom and calling her a slut!"

"You said Artemis fell in love!"

"Actually, that was-"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Jen and Melanie shouted at her at the same time, then turned back to each other and continued their argument.

"Guys…guys…GUYS!" Annabeth screamed. They fell silent and looked at her. "You know what everyone? Just go have free time. But please, stay away from each other."

Everyone shrugged and left, leaving only Annabeth and me in the room.

"Oh. My. Gods. That was the hardest class I have ever had."

"Yeah…us and Aphrodite kids don't really mix…at all."

Before Annabeth got a chance to say what she was going to say, Amelia burst into the room.

"Thalia. Volleyball game. Now. Come," she ordered.

"With who?"

"A few kids from the Aphrodite Cabin challenged us, and they got some other campers on their side."

I looked at Annabeth, and she nodded.

"Alright," I told the fellow Huntress. "I'm in."

"Have fun!" Annabeth called to the two of us as we ran out the door.

When we got to the Volleyball court, a small crowd had already formed, and a few Hephaestus kids were setting up bleachers. "Do you know how to play Volleyball?" I questioned Amelia.

"No. But we have a half hour to learn and warm up. Kristen knows, so she's going to teach us."

"Cool."

For the next half hour, Kristen taught us everything we needed to know about Volleyball. My arms were red from bumping the ball, and I had perfected my spike. My set, on the other hand, needed some work. My serve was okay; it wasn't the best out of all of us, but at least I could get it over.

We all got into a huddle and Kristen told us the game plan. She had sort of taken the roll as captain since she was the one who knew the most about the sport.

"Jen, you're serving first, Thalia, you're back middle, Taylor, you're back left, Amelia, you're front left, I'm front middle, and Julie, you're front right. The rest of you stay on the bench and cheer us on. But don't worry, you'll be substituted in every once in awhile and you will get to play. Everybody know their positions?" We all nodded, and did our cheer.

"One, two, three, MAIDENS!" It was kind of a stupid name if you ask me, but it was the only name that everybody agreed on.

I went to my assigned position, one of my favorites. Really, I just liked anything that wasn't setting. I liked the back row because it was bumping, which was the easiest to me, and I liked spiking because it was fun.

When the other team cheered, only the 'one, two, three' could be understood. Their name sounded like a mixture of the words love, archery, Apollo, Aphrodite, flowers, and the sun.

Once they all took their positions, I got a better look at who was actually on their team. It looked like Blondie, Lily, an Aphrodite boy, an Apollo girl, Tyler Jansler, some other Apollo boy, and a few other people on the bench.

"Come see the Volleyball game of the century!"

"Admission only two drachmas!"

So Connor and Travis were charging to get into our game? What a surprise. I looked over to see if they were actually earning any money. Surprisingly, the newly made silver bleachers were filling up fast, and there was still a line waiting to get in. From here, it looked like the whole camp was coming to see our 'Volleyball game of the century'.

This should be interesting.

Once everything calmed down a little bit, the referees, Malcolm and Annabeth, signaled the start of the game.

* * *

><p>"Out!" I yelled as I saw the ball land outside of the line.<p>

"What! That was so not out!" Blondie yelled.

"Um, yes it was. I called it out, didn't I?"

"You were lying, duh."

"Lying? Really? You hit it out! The ball was out!"

"No, it wasn't!"

"Yes, it was!"

"No! It wasn't!"

"Yes! It was!"

"No!"

"Yes!

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Then Blondie slapped me.

"FOUL!" Malcolm shouted, and he blew his whistle for extra effect.

* * *

><p>"Gimme an L!" yelled the other team's cheerleaders. They were all members of the Aphrodite Cabin that weren't playing.<p>

"L!" the team members on the bench replied, along with those in the crowd cheering for the other team.

"Gimme an O!"

"O!"

"Gimme a V!"

"V!"

"Gimme an E!"

"E!"

"What does that spell? LOVE! Go team Love! Woo!"

"Wait. Shut the front door." Travis shouted from where he was standing in the bleachers. "The Aphrodite kids actually know how to spell?"

He was immediately pelted with pom-poms.

* * *

><p>"Let's go Huntresses, you are great! You're as great, as a…" cheered the people who were rooting for us that felt we needed some cheerleaders, too. This included the Stoll brothers (who had started the whole thing), Percy, Annabeth (how they convinced her to do it, I had no clue), Grover (he just looked plain funny), and a few other people who I didn't know.<p>

"Great as a what?" some random member of the crowd yelled out.

"Uh…" said Travis.

"Great as a…great as a steak!"

"Really, Connor?" Annabeth asked. "A _steak_?"

"Well…steaks are great," Percy remarked. At this, my other team mates rolled their eyes, obviously thinking something along the lines of 'Men and their stupidity'.

* * *

><p>"So…what now?" Amelia inquired as we were all lounging in the Artemis Cabin.<p>

"Well…we could go rub it in the Aphrodite and Apollo Cabin's faces that we won and they lost," Jen suggested, drumming her fingers on the arm of her chair.

"Nah," I told her. "We just did that, what, ten minutes ago?"

"Five," Taylor corrected. "But we could try again. We never got to rub it in the Aphrodite Cabin's face. They wouldn't open their door."

"Yeah, but it's only been five minutes. I don't think they would open it after only five minutes." Jen sighed. "There isn't anything else to do!"

We settled into silence for a few minutes.

"You know, my grandfather used to tell me that when Volleyball was invented, it was originally called Wolleyball, only when they typed it on their typewriter, the W key was broken so it came out as a V. Then, they didn't change it back because everyone already knew it as Volleyball."

More silence.

"Hey, Kristen," Amelia said. "Was any of your past Volleyball games as crazy as this one?"

No answer.

"Kristen?"

It was then we realized that Kristen wasn't in the cabin with us.

"The cabin immediately went into chaos. Everyone was talking at the same time, asking where Kristen was, what happened to her, and coming up with crazy ideas.

"Guys! Shut up!" Taylor yelled. "It's pretty obvious what happened. She was kidnapped. There isn't any other reason she wouldn't be with us. The only question is this: By who?"

Everyone thought for a moment, until suddenly it dawned on us. At the same time we all said, "The Aphrodite Cabin."

Then, the door opened. There stood…

"Kristen! You look…you look hideous!"

It was clear that the Aphrodite Cabin had done the unthinkable.

They had given Kristen a makeover.

**A/N Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed Chapter Three! The Volleyball game was so fun to write. Thanks for reading, and please review! chapter Four is in progress!**


	4. Chapter 4

**IMPORTANT A/N If you have not re-read Chapters one through three, please do so. I have re-written them, and this chapter will confuse you if you do not re-read them. They are different, so don't worry. Re-reading will not bore you.**

**Chapter Four**

**Thalia POV**

Let me tell you this: washing dishes is not fun. But washing dishes with lava that could potentially burn your arm off? That was ten times worse. For the past minute, I had been standing in the kitchen of Camp Half-Blood staring angrily at the mess that stood before me.

In the room, there were counters running across the right and far wall. Each counter had a sink in the middle of it with cabinets above them where the dishes were to be put away. On the right side of each sink were plates stacked up so high they touched the ceiling. On the left side was a sea of utensils, each one so huge that it was hard to tell if there was a countertop underneath it or not. On the right side of the room was a table. Why, I had no idea.

I decided I should probably get started if I actually wanted to go to sleep tonight.

I picked up a plate from the nearest stack. It was covered in ketchup and had a huge spot of melted cheese on it, which I assumed was from Mac and Cheese. There were also some little broccoli pieces stuck in the ketchup and cheese, as if someone had taken their broccoli, grinded it up, and sprinkled it all over their plate. In other words, it was absolutely disgusting.

I put on the lava-proof, yellow gloves that were lying on the side of the sink and started scrubbing the plate. After five minutes of vicious scrubbing, it was finally clean. Instead of seeing the cheese goo and ketchup, you could now see the smooth, shiny silver surface that was beneath it. Each plate had a carving of a different god or goddess on it; one for every member of each cabin. I had used a plate that had Artemis carved in it, while this plate's carving was of Apollo.

"What are you doing here?" a male voice from behind me asked. Judging from how deep it was, I could only assume they were around sixteen.

"I'm washing dishes," I told him, turning around. Something about his black hair, dark brown eyes, and tan skin seemed familiar. "What did it look like, I was here to play ponies with you?"

His expression turned cold. "Maybe," he replied coolly. "We wouldn't want Little Miss Ice Princess getting her hands dirty now would we?"

I shot him a death glare. "Ice Princess? _Ice Princess_?" I mean really. Who did this guy think he was? He was definitely messing with the wrong person.

"Well, you don't seem to be mature enough to be an Ice Queen, so you're an Ice Princess," he explained. Oh, he was asking for it.

"_Look._" I took a step forward. "I don't know who you are or who you think we are, but I'm pretty sure it would be a good idea for you to shut your fricking mouth." I took a few more steps toward him until we were only inches apart.

"You want to know who I am?" he asked, but I only glared at him. He told me anyway. "I'm Nico Di Angelo, Ghost King." For a second all I thought about was how he told me he was the 'Ghost King', as if that was supposed to scare me. Then I realized what he said.

I stumbled back a few steps, surprised. _This_ was Nico Di Angelo? The hyper little twelve year old Percy, Grover, Annabeth and I rescued from the army school? _This_ was him four years later?

You have got to be joking.

I burst out laughing and Nico looked confused.

"What? What is so funny?" he questioned frantically, completely puzzled at what I found so hysterical. This only made me laugh more.

After about five minutes of non-stop laughing, I finally was able to stop. For a few moments I was gasping for breath, but I eventually was able to tell Nico what was so funny. "You're Nico Di Angelo," I stated, and he nodded, obviously wondering what my point was.

"I'm Thalia Grace. I took you to Camp back when you were twelve. You were so hyper back then; you've changed so much." I snickered.

"I know."

I stopped laughing. "What do you mean you know?"

"I know who you are. I remember you."

"You mean you purposely acted mean when you knew who I was?"

"Yes."

"Why!"

"Because one, you're part of the reason Bianca died. The entire Hunt is. Two, you came off as pretty annoying just now."

"Excuse me? I was not!"

"Yes you were."

"Well…only because you were mean first!" Nico rolled his eyes at this.

"Whatever," he muttered.

After awhile, we both decided that we should probably get started on the dishes. Over the course of the next hour, I washed sauces and crumbs off of countless gods' faces.

"I used to think you were really pretty," Nico blurted out. He immediately turned bright red and muttered something about ADHD.

"_Used_ to?" I pretended to be offended.

"You know what I meant," he said with a glare.

I washed a few more dishes. If he had said that to any other member of the Hunt, they would've slapped him, maybe even broken a bone or two. But somehow, his comment flattered me. Of course, this was probably a bad thing. But…it was a compliment, right? I _should_ be flattered. It's normal.

"UGH!"

I jumped, startled by Nico's outburst. "What?" I asked him, kind of annoyed. He made me get my hands in some sort of sauce that was as red as blood. I _did_ have gloves on, but it still felt weird.

"This cheese will not come off of Athena's nose!" he cried, scrubbing furiously at what I took to be Athena's cheese covered nose.

I sighed and started to walk towards him. "I'll get it."

I had almost reached my destination when I tripped over something. I would've fallen flat on my face if it weren't for the skinny yet surprisingly strong arms that caught me.

Being in Nico's arms, I was at the perfect angle to see the harpy who had probably come to check on us.

"You're supposed to be washing dishes!" she squawked, waving their feather covered wings for extra effect. She continued to yell at us for several minutes before finally leaving.

"Stupid hormonal teenagers," they muttered as they began to walk away, her voice as rough as sandpaper. "They never get anything done."

For a moment, Nico and I stood motionless. Then I remembered my current position.

I shot out of Nico's arms and took a few steps back. I brushed my self off, mumbled a sorry, and quickly walked back to my sink.

Wait…what did I trip on?

I looked behind me to see Nico picking up silver plates that were strewn across the floor.

Really Nico? Really? You put the plates on the floor?

I decided not to ask.

Sighing, I went back to washing dishes. I didn't want to do it, but I didn't want to be here all night.

An hour later, I had about a hundred more clean plates put back in the cupboards. I was now about halfway done with the plates, but I also had all of the silverware left to do.

Suddenly, I realized just how quiet it was. The only thing I heard was the lava from my sink running. What was Nico doing?

I was about to turn around when I heard what sounded like footsteps approaching me. They were muffled, as if someone was trying not to be heard.

I decided to let Nico come closer. I would turn his plan of sneaking up on me against him.

Continuing to scrub the plate in my hand, I pretended not to notice the elephant behind me. Did he really think he was being stealthy?

About fifteen seconds passed when I decided he was close enough.

"BOO!" I shouted as I whipped around.

Turns out, I waited a little bit too long. Our faces crashed into eachother.

My nose smashed against his cheek and our foreheads banged together. And…oh my gods…this can't get me kicked out of the Hunt, right? Our lips mashed together.

We immediately tore apart, our faces as red as tomatoes. Nico was holding his head, and while mine was full of pain too, I was more focused on my lips.

I was frantically trying to get any trace of Nico off, my hands violently wiping them. I cannot believe that just happened.

I tried to think about other things, but it didn't work. It only made my head hurt more. Instead, the previous scene replayed over and over again in my head.

"Um…I'm just gonna go back over here now," Nico said sheepishly, retreating back to his sink.

I nodded, but I couldn't look at him. That was just…oh my gods. "You do that…" I mumbled, turning back to my sink.

After awhile, my splitting headache went away and I decided I needed to get revenge on Nico. I had already finished washing all of the plates, so now only the silverware was left. I figured I would just throw them all into the sink, let them sit in there while I snuck up on Nico, and then put them all away.

I dumped all of the silver utensils into the lava-filled sink and looked over my shoulder. Nico was totally absorbed in his work. Perfect.

I slowly and quietly made my way towards Nico. Unlike Nico, I was as silent as a mouse. As far as he knew, nothing was out of the ordinary.

I was almost close enough to jump on him when he turned around. Unlike me, he actually judged my location correctly, so we weren't…like we were before. However, he slipped on a pair of wet yellow gloves that had been lying at his feet – what was with him and leaving stuff on the ground? – and fell on top of me.

"Again!" screeched a familiar raspy voice. "AGAIN!"

"Well, they did make a lot of progress," another harpy said. "And they do look kind of cute together."

"I knew it! The Aphrodite kids _did_ do something to you when you took them to the Big House for sneaking out last week! I'm sure the brainwashed you!"

The apparently brainwashed harpy sighed. "They didn't brainwash me. They just helped me to discover the amazing powers of love."

"Come on!" the meaner harpy shouted, pulling her companion away. "I'm taking you to Dionysus to heal your insanity!"

Nico hastily got off of me, both of us blushing for the millionth time that day.

"The Fates really hate us, don't they?" he inquired, brushing himself off.

"They must," I agreed.

Nico and I finally finished our first day of Kitchen Duty at around 12:30 in the morning. We were tired as Hades, and definitely ready to go to bed.

"Well," Nico said as we exited the Mess Hall. "See you tomorrow night?"

"Yup," I replied, nodding.

He smiled at me, and I smiled back. We said our goodnights and headed back to our cabins.

I was still smiling as I fell asleep.

**A/N I hope you liked Chapter Four! It feels nice not to re-write. Incase you didn't know, Suzie's back! Yay! Please review, it makes me happy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Thalia POV**

"Wanna hit the beach after lunch?" Annabeth suggested while tying her curly blonde hair into a ponytail, attempting to keep herself cooler. It was the hottest day we had had all summer, and everyone in Camp was absolutely miserable. I felt like a gingerbread man trapped in an oven.

"I would, but I can't. I'm going to try to teach Nico to shoot an arrow," I explained to my best friend, and she raised an eyebrow. "What? What is the problem?" I demanded.

"You and Nico seem to be spending a lot of time together lately..."

"Am I not allowed to make new friends?" I questioned, my hands on my hips. By this time I had stopped walking. "Just because I'm a Huntress doesn't mean I have to hate boys. I'm just sworn off of love. I'm doing nothing wrong here!"

"I didn't say you were doing anything wrong! I just stated a fact! You have to admit, you and Nico _have_ been spending a lot of time together lately." She wiped the sweat off her forehead.

I opened my mouth to say something when Annabeth interrupted me. "Don't even bother trying to argue."

"I know what you're implying. I'm not stupid." I glared at her. "Nico and I do not like each other."

The daughter of Athena let out a sigh. "Look, all I'm trying to say is- Hey! Clarisse! Get _off_ of him!"

And with that, she ran off to break up a fight that had broken out between Clarisse and some Apollo dude.

"I need back-up!" she screamed.

"Thank you, Clarisse," I muttered to myself. With one last glance back, I hurried away from a conversation I did not want to have.

* * *

><p>I looked around a few times, and then a few more times after that.<p>

I saw about twenty red targets in the distance, and the forest just beyond them. To my left was the shack where the extra arrows and spare bows were kept, and to the right of that was an old, splintery bench.

I checked my watch again. It was 2:37 p.m., seven minutes later than the time Nico and I had agreed to meet at the Archery Range. Honestly, where was that kid? I didn't have all day.

I sat down on the bench and decided to wait three more minutes for him. If he didn't show up then, I was out.

Ugh. Why did it have to be so hot? I took out my schedule from my back pocket and used it as a makeshift fan. If that son of Hades had the nerve to not show up to our... our practice session, I was seriously going to kick his butt. Nobody makes a fool out of Thalia. Nobody makes Thalia wait when it's insanely hot outside.

Suddenly, the whole ocean was dumped on my head.

After long, piercing scream, I stood up and turned around to see who was responsible, though I was already 99.9% sure I already knew.

And sure enough, I did know.

"NICO DI ANGELO! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" I shouted, trying to seem angry. However, my smile betrayed me. I had to hand it to him; he did a pretty nice job. Plus, the cold water felt amazing.

Wait. What was I saying? I just got pranked...by a boy. _A boy_. I should be pissed right now!

Thing is, I wasn't.

Gods, now I was sounding like the rest of the Hunt. 'Boys are stupid', 'Why do boys have to exist?'.

But why was that a bad thing... After all, I was a part of the Hunt. And in a way, I kind of was like them. With any other guy, other than Percy and Grover, I would've been furious. I _would have_ ripped their throat out.

But Nico is a good friend now, maybe he was on the same level as Percy and Grover now, and that's why I wasn't angry.

I was only half convinced, but this would have to wait for another time. It would look weird if I just zoned out for a while, not to mention when I would have to explain what I was thinking of.

I was relieved to see that Nico hadn't noticed anything, as he was too busy cracking up.

"You're... face..." He gasped out in between breaths.

"Yeah, yeah, hilarious, I know," I replied as I sat back down.

"You have to admit," Nico said a she plopped down next to me, "that was pretty good."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, whatever, Death Breath."

"Wait." His chocolate brown eyes grew wide. "You actually agree?"

"Well, yeah... I mean... Yeah."

I could not believe myself. Me? Stuttering? What was up with me today?

Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice. "This day shall go down in history," he declared.

"Yep, because it's probably the only time it's ever going to happen," I told him, finally regaining my confidence.

Nico sighed. "I know..."

"So how about that archery practice we scheduled?"

* * *

><p>"You suck at archery," I told Nico two hours later.<p>

"I do not!" he said indignantly. "I hit a target."

"Yeah, one. And that one happened to be the target _five targets over_." I argued. "You got lucky."

"How do you know I wasn't aiming for that one?"

"Nico, you told me which one you were aiming for." He just glared at me.

"Fine. I suck at archery. So what? Does it really matter?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. You're the one making a big deal about it."

"Whatever..."

After that, we walked in a comfortable silence on our way bag to our cabins, just enjoying each other's company. I almost didn't want to go back to the Hunt. I mean, with Nico, everything was so carefree. With the Huntresses... there was always something crazy going on.

"Thanks for the lesson," Nico said suddenly.

"No problem."

"It was really a lot of fun."

"Yeah," I agreed, "even though there were multiple times where you almost shot me, it was."

"Oh, shut up, you're ruining the moment."

Moment? We were having a... a... 'moment'? Was this a good or bad thing? Weren't 'moments' things that people romantically shared in movies and stuff?

Oh, shut up, Thalia. He probably meant it in a friendly way.

"Listen, Thalia-"

I could tell he was going to say something deep, but I didn't have the chance to find out what. Amelia was calling for me to get inside, and if I stayed out with a _boy_ any longer, I would never hear the end of it.

"Bye," I told him with an apologetic smile, and then I dashed into the Artemis Cabin.

"Bye..."

**A/N Terribly short chapter, I know. It was more of a filler chapter so I don't just jump from one thing to another in a confusing manner. Anyway, I hope you like it! Please go nominate your stories for the Olympian Awards, we need all of the nominations we can get! Also, I have a blog, which provides story/Fanfiction information as well as book recommendations and the occasional advice. I love you all, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Where are you going?" said a voice from behind me.

Crap. And I had almost made it, too.

"To train," I told Amelia. It _was_ the truth. Just not all of it...

Amelia gave me a suspicious look. "Who with?"

"Nico."

_Uh-oh._ Her expression was not a good one; I could tell I was about to get yelled at.

"Nico, huh? The _boy_?"

I told her that yes, that was what I had said. The glare she shot at me was nowhere near as good as mine.

"Thalia, you're a Huntress for crying out loud!" Julia got up from her perch on her bad and came to stand by Amelia. "You can't just go hang out with _boys_ all the time!"

"Yes, because _boys_ are just so horrible." I crossed my arms. "Sometimes I just don't understand any of you. He's a boy, so what?"

"So he's a boy! A stupid, sexist, perverted, disgusting boy! Just like every other one in the world!" Julia shouted at me.

Oh, so we were shouting now?

"And you say they're sexist," I muttered.

"Honestly, what is your problem with boys? Yeah, some of them are jerks. But so are some girls. Do you go around thinking every girl is the worst thing ever created? No! You don't! _Your anger has made you blind_."

I had to admit, I had no idea where that came from – I never usually said anything like that. Those were the most wise-sounding words I had ever said in my life. Thank you, Athena.

"You don't understand," Amelia said slowly, "because you've never been through the things that we have. You've never experienced the heartbreak or the hurt that we have, Thalia."

I scowled at them. "Oh yeah? You wanna bet?"

Their faces were hard, expressionless.

"Let's start with my home life, shall we? My mom was a drunkard. An emotionally unstable wreck.

"I eventually ran away and met Luke. Soon enough, seven-year-old Annabeth had also joined us, and then Grover the satyr. He was taking us to Camp Half-Blood. Monsters chased us the whole way there, and in the end I was turned into a tree – the same tree that's still on the hill – because my dad figured that was better than dying.

"Years later, I became human again, thanks to the Golden Fleece, only to find that Luke - the boy I had run away with and who I had loved - had betrayed me. He had sided with Kronos. He had left me with no one. He had broken my heart.

"So please. Don't tell me I don't know what it feels like."

By the end of my speech, tears were streaming down my face like a waterfall. I couldn't believe I was crying in front of them – I mean come on, how weak can I get? But right now I didn't care. I didn't give a freaking crap.

"I'm sorry Thalia," Julia said sympathetically. "I really am." Amelia nodded in agreement.

"It's just that... we want what's best for you. We-"

"I don't want to hear it," I said flatly, interrupting her. "I can make my own decisions just fine, thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the sword-fighting arena."

And with that, I stormed out of the Artemis Cabin and slammed the door behind me.

I couldn't _wait_ to decapitate some dummies.

* * *

><p>"So what is it now?" I asked Nico, still pinning him to the ground. "Ten nothing?"<p>

"Yeah," he replied, panting. "What us up with you today? You're vicious."

"What can I say? I'm good at this." Turning my back to him, hoping he would drop the subject, I headed in the direction of my water.

Sadly, there was no such luck. "Seriously, Thals, what's up?"

I couldn't help it. My heart sped up at the mention of a nickname.

I picked up my water bottle, the cold black plastic feeling good against my sweaty hands. Winning was a lot of work. "Nothing, _Nic_."

"Thalia," he said, plopping down next to me. "Seriously. Tell me."

"The Hunt is just being annoying. That's all."

He looked at me for a second.

"There's more, isn't there?"

Okay, he was seriously getting on my nerves now. I was already in a bad mood; did he have to make it worse? "Nico!" I exclaimed. "For the millionth time, it's nothing!"

Fed up with all of his questioning, I picked up my water bottle and weapon and started storming off.

I was almost out of the arena when I realized I still had my armor on. I sighed.

I turned around, glared at Nico, and started taking my armor off as I was walking. He was trying hard not to laugh, and that only made me angrier.

I angrily opened the shed's door, tossed the armor in, and slammed the door shut. I was going to get yelled at for not putting it back the right way later, but I didn't care.

Glaring at Nico once more, I stalked out of the arena. On my way out, I passed Percy and Annabeth, who backed away a few steps.

"Well," Percy said a few seconds later, "someone's on her-"

Before he could finish, I heard Annabeth slap him.

Despite my current mood, I smiled.

* * *

><p>So far, dinner was... awkward. Really, really awkward.<p>

Everyone was silent at the Artemis table; you could literally feel the tension. I wasn't talking to Julia and Amelia, and they weren't talking to me either, and the rest of the Hunt didn't want to get involved.

Quite frankly, I didn't' want to talk to anyone right now. Not even Annabeth, Percy, or Nico, who were I guess what you would call my best friends. For this reason, I was dreading Kitchen Duty. Nico would continue his interrogation, and this time I wouldn't be able to walk away from it.

All I wanted to do was go to bed.

Moving around my broccoli with my fork, I decided I was done eating. Maybe if I went to Kitchen Duty early I could finish earlier and then I could leave.

I stood up – not bothering to pick up my plate since it would appear in the kitchen on its own – and headed towards Chiron to tell him I would be starting early.

"What do you need, brat?"

"Chiron, can I start Kitchen Duty early today?" I inquired, ignoring Mr. D completely. Hey, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all. Plus, I was already in enough trouble.

"Ah, yes, about Kitchen Duty, you're punishment has been lifted. You will no longer have to wash dishes after dinner," he told me.

I knit my eyebrows in confusion. "What? Why?"

"I think you've learned your lesson." I looked him in the eye, and I could tell that wasn't the real reason.

"Chiron..."

"You're dismissed, Thelma," Mr. D said rudely. I scowled at him.

"But-"

"I _said_ you were dismissed!"

I turned around with a huff and stomped out of the Mess Hall – I seemed to be doing a lot of that today.

Well, at least now I didn't have to suffer through Kitchen Duty with Nico. And I could go to bed.

Except, I had to admit, I would miss it. It was usually a lot of fun.

Well, it wasn't going to last forever anyway. I would have to say goodbye soon anyway. After all, I was leaving in two days.

Wait – I was leaving in two days! Time really does fly when your having fun, doesn't it?

Well. This sucks.

I walked into my cabin, collapsed on my bed, and closed my eyes. I would have to make the most out of tomorrow...

"You sure will!" chirped a voice that I had only heard a few times before. No... It couldn't be...

I quickly prayed to every god or goddess I could think of that I was wrong.

"Thalia?" the overly feminine voice said again.

I opened my eyes to find I was in a pink, fluffy chair in a completely pink room across from a love goddess decked out in all things pink.

Kill me now.

"Aphrodite, why am I here?" I groaned.

"Me and you are going to have a little girl talk," she explained, and I groaned some more. "Would you like some lemonade?" she asked, gesturing to the table in between us that had two cups a pitcher full of lemonade on it.

I declined her offer. For all I knew, there was a love potion in it.

"Are you sure?" She asked, picking up her own. "Artemis makes a mean lemonade."

Well, maybe since Artemis made it... I was thirsty.

I took a sip of it, and it was like heaven in my mouth. Except... it tasted funny. It tasted good, but not like normal lemonade.

I looked at Aphrodite and narrowed my eyes. "What did you put in this?" I growled.

"Just a little potion Hecate whipped up for me," she said.

"What does it do?"

"It makes you realize the truth." I looked at Aphrodite suspiciously. "Seriously! That's all it does!"

I suppose it wasn't that bad then.

"Anyway," she went on, "we're here to discuss you and Nico."

"What is there to discuss?"

At this, the love goddess smiled. "Lots of things!"

She picked up a pink remote and aimed it at a TV I hadn't noticed before. I began playing clips of various times that I had hung out with Nico, from the time that we re-met in our first Kitchen Duty to the last time I beat him in the sword fighting arena.

"Anyone could tell that you two like each other," she stated.

"I don't like him!" I shot back.

"But don't you? Just think about it Thalia. Think about it."

So I did. I thought about all those times my brain went crazy just because he called me Thals, or said thanks, and all of the times I got butterflies when he smiled at me.

I was horrified when I realized Aphrodite was right.

For a moment I couldn't think – I liked Nico. I liked Nico. I actually liked Nico.

"Thalia...? Thalia...? Thalia...?"

I opened my eyes, just realizing I had closed them, to find myself back in the Artemis Cabin. Julia was shaking me, and Amelia was standing beside her.

"Oh, good, she's awake," Julia said. "Look, Thalia, we just want to say we're sorry."

"Yeah," Amelia added, "we shouldn't have been so judgmental. Just because we don't think too highly of boys doesn't mean you can't be friends with them. I guess we just kinda jumped to conclusions."

They smiled at me hopefully, and I did my best to return it.

"It's fine guys," I told them. "Let's just go to bed."

This time their smiles were relieved. "Night!" they replied in unison.

But they were right – they were right all along. I did spend too much time with him.

I liked Nico, and that was not a good thing. If anyone ever found out... I would get kicked out of the Hunt. I wouldn't have a family again...

This had to stop. This had to stop right away.

**A/N Hey guys! We're getting to the dramatic part of the story! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and thanks for reading! Please review, and check out my blog for information on stories, the occasional sneak peeks, and some other stuff. I love you all!**


	7. Chapter 7

**IMPORTANT A/N: PLEASE ACTUALLY READ THE A/N AT THE END!**

**Chapter 7**

**Thalia POV**

It was 2:30 in the morning, and I was surrounded by sleeping Huntresses. Personally, I liked them better this way. They were a lot... well, quieter.

I didn't want to go back to sleep. I knew that if I did, I would have another nightmare, courtesy of Aphrodite.

The only thing was that there was nothing to do. If I so much as got out of my bed, I would wake the whole cabin up. We were all light sleepers – you sort of have to be when a monster could maul you any second.

And even if I managed to get out of bed, there wasn't anything to do in the cabin. I would have to go outside, and then a harpy would eat me.

So I stayed in my cabin. Thinking.

Unfortunately, all there was to think about was Nico. And the fact that I liked him. And the fact that I was pretty much screwed.

I was about to sigh, but I stopped myself, knowing I had to be extremely quiet. The last things I wanted was to be forced to spill everything to a very non-understanding huntress.

Rubbing my temples, I closed my eyes I tried to think of a plan.

Come on, Thalia, think... think...

"Geez, Thalia, if I didn't know better I'd think you didn't like me!"

I groaned.

"I'm trying to think, Aphrodite!" I snapped at her, then immediately regretted it. What was I thinking, saying something aloud? I probably woke the whole cabin up!

Wait... Aphrodite...

I groaned, silently asking the Fates why.

"Well, I assume you know why I'm here?" she asked, and I nodded.

I looked around the room, still half-hoping that I wasn't actually here. That this was one of the regular dreams mortals had.

I was back in Aphrodite's Living Room, sitting in the same, pink, fluffy char that I sat in last time. Aphrodite was sitting across from me in a chair identical to mine. Between us was a glass coffee table that was immaculate. How she kept everything so clean, I had no idea.

To my left, a pink, leather couch was sitting against the red wall. The other wall was a few feet away to my right. Mounted on it was a pink TV, and underneath the TV was a fireplace.

"Oh, you should come here someday during Camp Half-Blood's dinner," said the love goddess, noticing what I was looking at. "All of the sacrifices I get make the whole room smell amazing."

"You mean the sacrifices go to each gods' individual room?" I inquired. I had always assumed the gathered in the Throne Room or something.

Aphrodite giggled. "Why else would we have fireplaces? It's not like it ever gets cold here."

I suddenly felt very stupid. I mean, _Aphrodite?_ Knowing something I didn't?

This whole thing was just getting worse and worse.

"Well," Aphrodite said, breaking the silence, "let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Aphrodite, if it's about Nico, I don't want to her it."

"I know; you _need_ to hear it."

I was about to protest when Aphrodite held up a roll of duct tape and threatened that if talked, she would not hesitate to use it.

She then picked up a walkie-talkie and said Athena's name into it. "The eagle has left the nest. I repeat, the eagle has left the nest."

"Aphrodite," came Athena's muffled reply, "that doesn't even make sense."

"Oh, whatever!" she exclaimed, "Just get over here."

Athena sighed, and I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "I'm on my way."

Aphrodite set down the walkie-talkie and smoothed her black dress pants. Along with the pants, she was wearing a red blouse with a pair of red heels completing the look. With her in the room, I felt very under-dressed.

A minute later, Athena walked in the room with a pencil behind her ear and a notebook under her arm.

"You're wearing the skirt!" Aphrodite cried. "And the blouse I got you!"

"This isn't my style," she muttered.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes at her friend. "Please. It so is. You look like a librarian... or a lawyer... something smart."

Athena was dressed in a black pencil skirt and an off-white, polka dotted blouse with black high heels. Her light brown hair was in a bun, and she was wearing pearl earrings. She did sort of look like a lawyer.

Now I felt like a complete slob.

Athena opened her black notebook and flipped through it. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Aphrodite smiled, crossed her legs, and leaned back in her chair while Athena – who seemed to have found her page – pulled her pencil out from behind her ear.

"So, Thalia. You like Nico, correct?"

"Yes," Aphrodite stated before I could even open my mouth. "She does."

"What if I don't?" I inquired innocently, and Aphrodite shot me a look, while Athena just stared at me. It felt like she was looking into my soul – I didn't like it.

"You're scared to admit it, aren't you? You don't want to lose the Hunt, your family." It wasn't a question, but a statement. She seemed to automatically assume she was right – kind of like Annabeth.

Well, she was right. Maybe she really could see into my soul...

I shivered, but no one seemed to notice. Athena was writing furiously in her notebook, while Aphrodite was checking her reflection in a pocket mirror (which, of course, was pink).

"Thalia, I'd like to let you know that the Hunt isn't your only family. You have many people at Camp who care for you, including Chiron, my daughter... _Perseus_... and Nico."

The way she said it made it seem reasonable, but... I didn't know what to think. My brain was one huge mess of what ifs, worries, and frustration.

"I just..." I sighed. "I can't abandon the Hunt. I'm their lieutenant."

"Artemis would appoint a new one, I'm sure."

"I would be letting them all down..."

"You would get over it."

"Artemis might turn me into a bunny..."

By now, I was sure it sounded like I was making excuses, and maybe I was. I had to admit – I didn't like change. Not one bit. I liked things to stay the same, to stay how I was used to them being. And, when they did change... it scared me.

I almost laughed aloud at the thought. Me, Thalia Grace, the tough girl who a lot of people are afraid of, _scared_. It was pretty ironic.

"Thalia, just admit it already!" the goddess sitting across from me shouted. Athena and I flinched, startled by the outburst. "The Hunt is annoying, you miss your friends, _and you and Nico are perfect for each other_!"

Suddenly, before I could process any of what she just said, there was a knock at the door. The blood drained from both goddesses' faces, while I just sat there confused.

"Oh no," Athena muttered, while Aphrodite cursed. Athena gave her a stern glance, but Aphrodite didn't notice. "Language..."

Aphrodite went to open the door, looking as if Typhon was the one behind it.

"Hey, Zeus!" Aphrodite greeted, sounding nervous. "...How goes it?"

"Is my daughter here?" came the stern reply.

I was about to yell at him to help me when Athena slapped her hand over my mouth.

"Yeah, Athena's here," the love goddess told him, fidgeting.

My dad opened the door wider and stepped into the room. Aphrodite tried to block him, but she was no match for the ruler of the gods.

Athena's hands immediately flew off of me.

"Help me," I mouthed to him, while the two goddesses stood there looking sheepish.

"What is the meaning of this?" Zeus thundered, and Athena and Aphrodite both looked at the ground.

Zeus sighed, and turned his attention to me.

"There is to be _nothing_ between you and that Hades boy. Do you understand?"

"There wasn't anything to begin with, dad."

"Good," he said curtly. "You may go now."

And just like that, he snapped his fingers and I awoke in my bed.

"Am I not allowed to get any sleep?" I asked to no one in particular, and then my head fell onto the pillow and slept – for real this time.

I had to admit, it felt nice.

After breakfast the following morning, I was more stressed than ever. I had no idea what I would do when I actually had to interact with him. There was no way I could be normal with him again – not with all of this drama.

Gods. I hate love.

Or – like. I didn't love Nico! Gods. There was no way I could ever love Nico. Ever. That would just be... weird. Impossibly, incredibly, unbelievably weird.

Then I saw Nico heading towards me.

_Styx, Styx, Styx..._

My options very limited, I sprinted back to my cabin. Slamming the door behind me, I quickly ran to hide in the bathroom.

Moments later, I heard a knock at the door.

"Going to the bathroom," I called to him, hoping he didn't hear any of the nervousness in my voice.

A minute later, I want to check if he was still there. Sure enough, I saw a boy dressed in all black sitting on the front steps.

Gods, that boy was dedicated.

I looked around the cabin, checking for any escape routes. My eyes landed on a window in the back.

"Maybe... just maybe," I murmured to myself.

I opened the window, and climbed out of it, barley managing to land on my feet. Letting out the breath I'd been holding, I started to run again.

I looked over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't being followed. Unfortunately, I ran into someone, knocking us both to the ground.

"My gods, Thalia, you'd think you were running from a monster!"

A high-pitched, nervous giggle escaped my lips. By now, I was honestly concerned for my mental well-being.

Annabeth looked concerned, too. "Thalia? What's going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Really not a big deal-"

Suddenly, I saw a flash of black.

"Tell him I'm not here!" I cried before jumping into the nearest bush.

A few seconds later, I heard Nico talking to Annabeth, and I prayed to Zeus that he hadn't seen me.

"Annabeth, have you seen Thalia?"

Annabeth, probably understanding my orders now – to a certain extent, at least – told him that no, she had not seen me.

"Alright, thanks Annie."

"Don't call me that!" she shouted, but I heard no reply.

"It's safe to come out now."

Pulling leaves and twigs out of my hair and brushing them off of my clothes, I thanked her.

"Thalia, please tell me what's going on."

I sighed. "I can't really say it here..."

Annabeth took my arm and started pulling me in some unknown direction. "Come on."

Five minutes later, Annabeth was sitting on her bunk, looking at me expectantly.

"Fine." I said, as I sat down on the floor.

Then I told her everything, from how Nico and I re-met in Kitchen Duty, to the dreams I had. I told her that I liked Nico, and about all of the problems that resulted from that.

She was a very good listener, I had to give her that.

"Well, Thalia," Annabeth started, and I knew something wise was going to come next. "I would do what you want to do. Don't let anyone else decide for you – this is your decision."

With that, she smiled, and I smiled back. I had to admit, it felt good to finally spill everything.

"Now come on, we have classes to go to."

The rest of the day went smoothly, without any more appearances from Nico. Although, my guard was up the whole time, so I didn't really _enjoy_ my last day at Camp.

I sighed. _Camp_. I would miss this place.

Wandering to the Archery range, I sat down on that old, splintery bench again.

I didn't want to believe that I wanted to leave, that I wanted to stay with the Hunt. I mean, for the past few years, the Hunt is all I've known. And honestly, it was Heaven on earth.

Yeah... I did want to stay with the Hunt. Who cares what Aphrodite says? I don't want to leave them and that's that.

I smiled to myself and closed my eyes. It was nice, just sitting here. It was so... peaceful.

"You've been avoiding me."

My eyes snapped open immediately.

I mentally face palmed, angry with myself for being so stupid.

"Hey, Nico..."

He sighed, and I felt a little guilty. I suppose it was kind of mean of me, but... but it was necessary.

"Thalia, I've been trying to talk to you all day. I... I need to tell you something."

He shifted his weight to his left foot and back, and I could tell he was nervous.

Then I realized what was coming. Oh, gods no...

"I like you," he admitted finally. "I like you a lot."

My mind was in overdrive; a million thoughts were going through it at once. I didn't know what to say, or what to do. I just wanted to disappear.

"Thalia?" he asked after a minute.

"Nico... i-it would never work... ever. I'm a huntress, and I tend to stay that way."

His face fell. "So you're gonna stay with them?"

"Of course I'm gonna stay with them! What else would I do?" I had raised my voice, but I really didn't care.

"You could stay here," he muttered, and for some reason it made me angrier. This was my decision, and nobody was going to tell me what to do.

"Look, Nico. The Hunt is my family. I'm not just going to desert them," I told him, my voice cruel.

"But they don't understand you at all!" he shouted, his voice rising too. "Just a few days ago you guys had a huge fight!"

"Families fight. Then they make up. Because they love each other."

"Some family."

"Excuse me? They were always there for me. Always. When I had no one left to go to, they let me in with open arms. You have absolutely no right to say that."

"Thalia, please," Nico croaked, and I could see tears in his eyes. "Stay."

"Nico, this won't ever work. Ever! I'm a huntress, so get over it."

"Please," he said again, his voice breaking.

"No." I turned my back to him. "No."

With that, I walked away, tears streaming down my face.

Soon, that walk turned into a run, and then a sprint towards the woods.

Once I had reached my destination, I sank down against a tree.

_Well,_ I thought, _this sucks._

**A/N Okay, so Suzie (TheGreekGoddessAthena) and I have started a blog that tells all about the good stories in the PJO archive that YOU GUYS submit. It's designed to help kind of save the PJO archive, and to introduce people to good stories that they might not have read otherwise. More information is on the actual blog. Please check it out, the link is on my profile. I will love you forever if you do!**

**I hope you liked this chapter; we have finally reached the climax! Please review, it makes me happy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Change**

**Chapter 8**

"I'm leaving!" I shouted to my hectic cabin, halfway out the door. We were supposed to be at my tree five minutes ago, and my patience was running thin.

"Where'd I put my toothbrush?"

"Okay, who was my bow?"

"Amelia! That's mine!"

And there went my patience.

"If any of you aren't there when Artemis or whoever is picking us up gets here, I will make sure you stay at Camp!" I screamed, but my words had no affect on them. Letting out an agitated sigh, I spun on my heel and slammed the door shut behind me.

"Irresponsible...undependable...foolish..." I muttered, stalking towards my tree.

Then it hit me – this was my last day at Camp Half-Blood. For who knows how long?

I have to say goodbye to Annabeth!

I looked back at the Artemis Cabin. Deciding I had enough time for at least one goodbye, I turned around, bumping into someone in the process.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed.

"It's fine," said a low voice, a voice I knew too well.

I looked up to see Nico, his eyes red and puffy and his dark hair mussed and sticking up at odd angles. For a second I felt bad. I raised my hand in an attempt to comfort him, but quickly dropped it. What was I doing? This was a boy that had almost made me give up my family. A boy who almost ruined my love forever. Love doesn't exist. There is no such thing as a 'soul mate'.

Before Nico could mess with my mind any further, I turned around and sprinted towards the Athena Cabin. I was there seconds later, furiously knocking on the door.

The door soon opened to reveal a slightly annoyed looking Annabeth. When she saw it was me, she sighed. "What do you need advice on now?"

Not having enough time to stay and chat out in the open where anyone – especially certain children of Hades – could see me, I pushed past her and entered the cabin.

"Thalia-" she started to scold, but I interrupted what was sure to be a boring speech anyway.

"Close the door, close the door!"

She gave me a questioning look, but closed the door anyway.

"So what's up?" she inquired, plopping down on her bunk. "More Nico troubles?"

"No. Well, yes. Kind of – but that isn't why I came."

"Oh?"

"I'm leaving today. I came to say goodbye."

"Oh," Annabeth said, her face falling a little. "You decided to go back?"

"Well, yeah," I replied. "They're my only family. Nico just doesn't understand that."

For a few moments, neither of us said anything. It began to become a little bit awkward, so I figured it was probably a good time to leave.

"Well, bye Annabeth. Thanks for everything."

She smiled. "No problem. Be safe!"

"I will!" I called over my shoulder as I walked out of the door. "Tell Percy I say goodbye!"

**~this~is~a~really~cool~linebreak~**

"Hey ladies!" greeted the ever so annoying voice of Apollo at exactly noon. The Hunt and I groaned, not exactly looking forward to the ride ahead of us.

"At least we're leaving this dump," Amelia said, and there were a few nods of agreement. Though I did like Camp, I too was glad to be leaving.

"Well come on, ladies, get in the van! I don't have all day!" exclaimed the cheery sun god.

"That didn't sound creepy at all," I muttered, making the Hunt chuckle.

An hour later, we were back at our makeshift campsite. Artemis was sitting by the fire, tending the flames. There were a few shouts of joy, a few complaints to Artemis about how horrible Camp was, and a whole lot of bickering between Artemis and Apollo. After the goddess of the moon finally got her twin brother to leave, we just relaxed and talked for a while. The next day, we were packing up and searching for a new campsite, so she decided we could take today off.

When the time came to go to bed, I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for a while, but no matter what I tried, my mind remained wide-awake. Deciding sleep was hopeless, I got up and took a walk.

I had always loved the forest at night. Everything was so much more calm and peaceful. It was also a lot cooler than it was during the day, and it always soothed me.

But tonight was different. I still felt anxious. I had expected myself to relax once we had left Camp, but I hadn't. Something was definitely wrong, but what was it?

I had made the right choice. I was sure of it. I was meant for the Hunt, meant to be here. This was my family. This was where I was supposed to be.

Maybe it would just take some time to calm down. Yes, that had to be it. 2

I was about to turn back when something caught my eye – a pink sticky-note stuck to a tree. As I walked closer, I began to make out writing.

_Hope you're happy._

_~Aphrodite_

"Yes, Aphrodite, I am happy," I said aloud. Immediately I started to question this statement. Was I really happy?

No. I was not.

The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that this was not what I wanted. I didn't want to always be out in the wilderness. I didn't want to be thousands of miles from my friends, from Camp. _I didn't want the Hunt_.

What I wanted was Nico.

I had made a terrible, terrible decision.

**AN: Hey guys! Long time, no see, eh? Yeah...I'm really sorry about that. It's been, what, two months? SORRY! But, it's my birthday! Happy birthday to me! And happy Mother's Day, to all those mothers out there. This story is coming to an end...so sad! But happy too! So yeah! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed that, and don't forget to review! Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Change**

**Chapter 9**

Artemis was going to kill me. No – she wouldn't kill me, should would turn me into some small rodent or rabbit or something, and then she and the Hunt would hunt me down. And _then_ I would die.

Artemis was never really the forgiving type.

Sighing, I sat down at the base of the tree. Was this really the way I was going to die? I didn't even get to say goodbye to Percy, and Nico...

I was an absolute jerk to him before I left. He probably hates me. Probably despises me. And the worst part about it? He has absolutely every right to.

Emotions really suck.

I looked at the note again and re-read it. Then re-read it again. I hated to say it, but there was really only one thing I could do. Something I never thought myself capable of.

I prayed to Aphrodite.

Literally the second after I closed my eyes, the scent of the goddess' sickeningly sweet perfume filled my nostrils, making me want to sneeze.

"Oh, Thalia!" she squealed, beaming at me with perfectly straight teeth. "I knew you would come around! I just knew it! You and Nico are just so perfect for each other, and Oh. Em. Gee. Thalia! This is just so amazing!"

I took a deep breathe in, then exhaled. "Aphrodite," I said, making an effort to keep myself calm, "please be quiet. You're going to wake everyone up."

Aphrodite giggled, as if she knew something I didn't. "You need to stop worrying, Thalia. Now go tell Artemis that you're leaving to go be with your man! I promise she won't turn you into a bunny."

She winked, then was gone. I was left sitting in the middle of a dark, empty forest wondering when the Hades my life had gotten so cliché.

* * *

><p>I took a deep breath, savoring what might be my last few minutes as a human. I've never gotten in trouble with her myself, but I have seen what happens to those who were subject to her wrath. Needless to say, it was not the most desirable fate.<p>

With shaky hands, I opened the goddess' tent and ducked inside.

"Hello, Thalia," she said, her voice having no emotion whatsoever. Her back was turned to me, so I could not see her face.

"Hello, m'lady," I replied, bowing my head.

"Sit."

I did what she asked, and for a few moments neither of us spoke. It seemed she was waiting for me to say something.

It also seemed as if she already knew what I was going to say.

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "M'lady, I don't mean to disrespect you or your kindness in any way, and I honestly didn't mean for this to happen, and I'm very sorry if you're angry with me, and I know that you will definitely hate me for this, but, you see, at Camp-"

"Thalia," she said, turning around to face me, "I know."

"Wait...what?" I questioned, forgetting all of my formality. "What do you mean you know?"

"Aphrodite really isn't the best secret keeper, Thalia. Literarily everybody in Olympus knows about you and that male. 'Thalico' she calls it."

Again, all I could do was stare.

"Thalico?" I finally sputtered out. "...What?"

Artemis laughed without humor. "It's stupid, I agree."

I nodded, and we sat there in a few moments of silence. "M'lady," I asked, "does this mean your going to turn me into a rabbit now?"

The goddess sighed. "I really want to Thalia, to be honest. But I won't. You were one of my best lieutenants, after all."

My eyes widened. "You are serious, right?" I asked, almost not believing it. This had to be the first time Artemis ever let someone leave the Hunt for love.

"Yes, of course I'm serious," she snapped.

"Thank you," I stammered, my eyes still huge with disbelief. "So much."

"I'm not that cruel," she muttered. "Just don't expect to be allowed to come back once that boy breaks your heart."

I was smiling now. "Thank you Artemis." I repeated. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>It had been nearly three hours since I had left the Hunt, yet I was still not at Camp. Instead, I was right back in the same pink room that I had been imprisoned in twice before. And now they were torturing me.<p>

"Athena, hand me the curling iron," Aphrodite said, holding her hand out.

"Which one?" the goddess of wisdom answered exasperatedly. "You have at least five!"

"The pink one with the darker pink handle," Aphrodite replied, irate. "Honestly, how many times have a told you about which kind of curls are right for different girls? It's so obvious!"

"No, it's not," Athena muttered, but she grabbed the curling iron and handed it to Aphrodite anyway. I groaned, looking at my reflection in the mirror of Aphrodite's pink vanity.

The two Olympians had put me in at least thirty different outfits when at last they had both agreed on one. Surprisingly enough, I actually liked it. It was simple, really, with dark wash jeans, a blue, racerback tank top, and – my favorite part of the whole outfit – a black leather jacket. Aphrodite also chose a pair of black heels, and a necklace with cloud on it to finish it off.

Thank the gods that Athena had some sense in her, and managed to convince Aphrodite that a big, poofy dress was not the way for me to properly 'win Nico's heart'.

My face was still makeup-less – though not for long – and my hair was in the process of being curled by the goddess of love herself. Athena stood by, book in hand, ready to help Aphrodite with my makeover.

"There!" Aphrodite exclaimed, twenty minutes later. "Done!"

She stepped back to examine her handiwork, evidently liking what she saw. She smiled as she moved to pick up her makeup bag.

Before I could look in the mirror, Aphrodite turned the chair around.

"Oh, don't worry Thalia. You're going to look amazing," Aphrodite told me, laughing at my terrified expression.

"I sure hope so," I mumbled.

"Now close your eyes, and stop moving," she ordered, unscrewing her bottle of mascara. "I'd hate to poke your eyes out before you get a chance to see Nico again."

* * *

><p>I had almost drifted off to sleep when an extremely loud squeal of excitement made me jump out of my seat.<p>

"Oh, you look so gorgeous!" Aphrodite gushed, pulling me over to a full-length mirror. "Look!"

I gasped at my reflection. The hair and the outfit weren't so bad, but the makeup...

I groaned. "Aphrodite, I look like a clown."

"You do not! You look pretty!" she insisted, folding her arms across her chest. "And don't try to take it off. Your hair and your makeup are going to stay on for the next few days no matter what you try.

"Now come on! You have a boy to win back!"

Suddenly, Aphrodite and I were standing in front of the Hades Cabin. I stumbled a little – high heels were not the easiest shoes to walk in.

The love goddess smiled. "Go on." She nudged me in the direction of the door, and then disappeared.

Taking a deep breath, I walked up the steps and knocked on the door. I started to feel a little bit self-conscious, but quickly pushed the emotion out of my mind. I didn't have time for that. I-

The door opened to reveal a very tired looking Nico. His eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Hello!" I greeted, trying to think of something, anything to say. "Nice weather, isn't it?"

"Is this a dream?" he inquired.

"No, Death Breath, this is not a dream."

"Thalia?"

"No. It's Percy."

He cracked a smile. "Hey Thalia. Wait – what are you doing here? Where's the Hunt? And...is that _blush _on your face? And your hair...my gods, Thalia, what happened to you?"

I laughed. "It's a long story, Nico. As for my face..." I winced. "Aphrodite."

"Aphrodite? How did that happen? Wait, you know what, I'm not even going to ask. But seriously, Thalia, why are you here? I thought the Hunt was your family?" His face turned serious. "I thought I didn't understand."

"Look, I know your angry with me right now, but...I'm sorry. I left the Hunt."

He just looked at me for a few moments. "Why?"

This made me angry. Did I seriously just give up everything I knew for the past four years, and then go through torture with Aphrodite for nothing? That was not going to happen. If Nico totally turned his back on me now...

"Because, Nico!" I shouted, not able to calm myself down. I gave up everything for this boy. Everything!

"I like you, okay? I like you a lot! I gave up all that I had for you! I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you before, but I was confused, okay? I was confused! But I'm here now, so you know what? You know what?"

I was so angry I was shaking, but I couldn't think of what to say next, because honestly, I didn't know. I didn't know anything anymore. I was a complete mess.

"Sorry to bother you," I muttered, and turned to walk away.

"Thalia, wait."

But I couldn't. I couldn't turn around and face him now. I walked faster.

"Thalia!" he shouted. I started to run.

"Thalia, I'm not angry with you! But my gods, you do make it hard not to be some times!"

Without meaning to, I smiled. I slowed down, eventually coming to a halt. Nico stood right next to me now, panting.

"You run really fast," he stated.

"Sorry, Nico. For being...difficult. I was stupid, I admit."

"Yeah." Nico grinned. "You really, really were."

Nico kissed me then, and I found myself kissing him back. The Aphrodite girls had gathered around us, taking pictures and babbling about how adorable we were, but for once, we just didn't care.

**AN: Chapter 9 of Change! The last chapter! How'd you guys like the story? Should there be an Epilogue? Thalia's outfit is on my blog, and my Polyvore account for FF (greekbattledove), so that's there if you'd like to check it out. Thank you guys all so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following my story. You guys are the reason I put stories out on here, and you really make my day with all of the nice things you say. :) I love you all so much, and thank you again!**

**~Ella**


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